Polarized transport of docetaxel and vinblastine mediated by P-glycoprotein in human intestinal epithelial cell monolayers.

The expression of the multidrug transporter P-glycoprotein has been studied in two human intestinal epithelial cell lines. No functional expression of P-glycoprotein was found in the differentiated HT29-18-C1 cell line. The expression of P-glycoprotein in the Caco-2 cell line was very high, as judged by immunoblotting and by active efflux of vinblastine. The polarized transport of vinblastine in the basolateral to apical direction was temperature and energy dependent, and was reduced by P-glycoprotein inhibitors such as verapamil, chlorpromazine and reserpine. This adds further evidence that the polarized transport of vinblastine across Caco-2 monolayers is mediated by P-glycoprotein. The anticancer drug docetaxel (Taxotere) was transported in a polarized manner: basolateral to apical permeability was 20-fold higher than in the reverse direction. This polarized transport was inhibited by verapamil, chlorpromazine and reserpine, thus demonstrating that docetaxel is a substrate of P-glycoprotein. The implications of these results for the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of taxoids are discussed.